Broccoli Cheese Soup

As soon as I saw this post go up on The Pioneer Woman's cooking blog I knew I had to try it. I immediately thought of one of my friends who always gets this soup at Panera where we frequently go (or used to go back when I was a workin' gal) for lunch dates. I made a few changes, but overall the soup was quite tasty! I think next time I might play with the cheese combinations a bit, but this was definitely a great first attempt (as there was no meat this didn't get a high rating from The Husband as you can imagine, but I gave it a solid 4 on my side!)

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman

Serves 6

1 small onion, diced

4 Tbsp butter

1/4 lb carrots, diced

3/4 lb broccoli florets

2 1/2 Tbsp flour

2 cups skim milk

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp seasoned salt

Pinch of nutmeg

6 oz grated cheese (I used 3 oz pepper jack and 3 oz sharp cheddar)

2 oz Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Melt butter in dutch oven over medium heat and saute onions and carrots until soft.
2. Sprinkle flour on top and allow to cook out a few minutes before whisking in the milk.
3. Add nutmeg, seasoned salt, salt (just a little, it's best to adjust later based on your cheese selections and the salt tolerance level of your home), pepper, and broccoli.
4. Cover and reduce heat allowing the contents to simmer for 30 minutes or until broccoli is tender.
5. *Using a slotted spoon remove the broccoli and carrot bites and give them a whirl in a food processor (or blender, but my blender long-since burned itself up and died).
6. Transfer the broccoli (thick) puree back to the pot, add in the cheeses, and allow to melt (you may need to thin out the soup using chicken stock to get your desired consistency).
7. Adjust the seasoning to your liking and serve in a bread bowl if you're feeling fancy!

*You don't have to do this step or you can do a variation of this step (using a potato masher, immersion blender, etc.) I used my food processor because it was already out and dirty from shredding the cheeses so I figured, why not? I do think the broccoli needs broken up though as the broccoli to "broth" ratio is sort of skewed and in my head it is weird to just eat a running creamed broccoli instead of a legit soup. To each their own!

African Peanut Soup

Peanut butter in soup broth?!

Yes, please!!

This is one of mine and Megan's fall (or anytime really) favorites =)

African Chicken-Peanut Soup

Adapted from Cooking Light
Serves about a zillion (I have no idea, it's a lot though!)

3 cups cubed peeled sweet potato
1 cup chopped onion
1 large red bell pepper, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
4 cups chopped rotisserie chicken
16 oz jar of salsa
1 tsp ground cumin
3 boxes chicken broth

2 cups brown rice, cooked

2 15 oz cans black beans, drained
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter

1. In a larger soup pot or dutch oven cook the sweet potato, onion, peppers, and garlic in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes.
2. Add in the chicken, salsa, cumin, broth, rice, and beans and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Whisk in the peanut butter and cook for a few more minutes and it's ready!

This soup is super easy and will keep nicely on the stove, as with most soups, it just gets better! It also freezes well which is good since this recipe makes a ton of soup. Find a friend and share, that's my best advice!

Smokey Bacon and Broccoli Mac and Cheese

As a result of some poor planning on my part I had quite the assortment of leftover ingredients from recipes that never came to fruition. One thing led to another and Smokey Bacon and Broccoli Mac and Cheese was born.

Smokey Bacon and Broccoli Mac and Cheese

12 oz small pasta (mini penne was my choice)

3-4 oz. bacon, cooked and chopped

1 small box frozen chopped broccoli, thawed

4 Tbsp butter

4 Tbsp flour

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 1/2 c milk (I did a skim and whole combo)

4 oz Fontina cheese, grated

4 oz smoked Gouda cheese, grated

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Pinch cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Using a large pot, boil the noodles according to the package instructions for al dente. Strain and set a side reserving pot for later.
3. In a large sauce pan, melt the butter on medium-high heat.
4. Whisk in flour and garlic and cook until golden brown, stirring constantly. (A spatula works just fine as I still haven't replaced my silicone whisk so this is my bechamel go-to at the moment.)
5. Add in milk and continue stirring over medium-high heat until the sauce thickens and bubbles begin to form.
6. Remove from the heat and add in your spices, bacon, and cheeses stirring until melted.
7. In the large pot, combine the noodles, broccoli, and cheese mixture then pour into a greased casserole dish (I used a 2 1/2 quart round dish).
8. Sprinkle with extra grated cheese (optional) and bake for 20-30 minutes or until bubbly.

Baked Onion Rings

I ask you, who doesn't love onion rings?! When I saw this recipe pop up via a mom-blogger I follow on Twitter I knew I had to give it a try. Tonight's dinner was steaks on the grill a la Hubby and I figured what more perfect meal to test out these beauties! While you can't really pick these bad boys up, they most definitely hit the old onion rings spot for sure.

Baked Onion Rings

Adapted from SkinnyTaste.com

Serves 2

1 medium onion

2 cups skim milk

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

Salt and pepper, to taste

Olive oil spray

1. Mix 2 cups of milk with 2 Tbsp of lemon juice and set aside.
2. Slice onion and separate into rings. Lay out in a shallow dish.
3. Pour milk over the onions.
4. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours (I did mine for 3 hours).
5. Preheat oven to 450.
6. In another shallow dish, mix together the remaining dry ingredients.
7. Using tongs, remove the onion rings from the milk and coat with the breadcrumb mixture. Place onto baking sheets lined with foil in a single layer.
8. Spray the onion rings with olive oil spray and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.

Roasted Potatoes

These potatoes are one of our dieting go-to sides. Super easy and pretty flavorful which is a high demand during diet season. I made these to go along with Lombardi Chicken and it was a tasty match-up!

Roasted Dijon Potatoes

Serves 4

Estimated 2 pts.

1 lb potatoes, peeled, washed, and cubed

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp olive oil

1/2 Tbsp rosemary

1/2 Tbsp oregano

1/2 Tbsp parsley

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. In a large Ziplock bag mix all of the ingredients together, shake to coat.
3. Pour into a greased pan.
4. Bake for 45-50 minutes, stirring once in the middle of the cook time. Cook time will vary based on the size of your potato pieces.

I've also done these at 425 for 25-30 minutes so it can work with a variety of other sides/proteins you may have in the oven at the same time. I love me some versatile sides!

It's on my to-do list to attempt these with honey mustard instead of Dijon since I usually don't like mustard at all...I am only mildly turned off by the mustard flavor in these potatoes. I wonder if I would like them even more if I experimented with the mustard flavor...

Ranch Potatoes

A delicious side, but not for ones who fear butter. I made this several weeks ago (we're talking before Christmas) and for whatever reason forgot to write down the recipe.

Ranch Potatoes
Adapted from Mandi

1 bag of baby red potatoes
4 Tbsp butter/margerine
1 packet, Ranch Salad Dressing/Seasoning Mix

1. Wash potatoes and prepare as you would for mashed potatoes (for me that means cutting them in half or quarters depending on the size of the potatoes, skins on).
2. Drain and pour into a baking dish.
3. Melt butter and dissolve ranch seasoning packet. Pour over potatoes
4. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

This method was quite ranch-y, if you make with regular potatoes, I'd say 3 or 4 large potatoes would do the trick, the small bags of mini potatoes may be a little too heavy on the ranch-side depending on how salty you like you food. It could be delicious, or scary. Perhaps playing with the butter ratio would be a good idea too, especially if you're using salted butter or margarine.

Regardless, this will definitely be happening again once the diet is over ;-)

PS - I've also tried just mashing the potatoes with the butter, ranch, and about a cup of shredded cheddar cheese for some loaded mashed potatoes. We were too hungry to wait for the baking step the first time I made these potatoes so I did a mash instead and it was amazing. Reminded me of the Sargento Potato Finishers which we absolutely love, but can no longer find in our local market (none of the three I frequent on a regular basis, very sad =( ) so I'm not even sure if they are still producing those baggies of joy or not....

Broccoli & Rice Casserole

After hitting a wall of not being able to consume any more roasted broccoli (Hubby's favorite and pretty much only vegetable) I wanted to try something new with broccoli (we buy broccoli in bulk from CostCo...seriously, we eat A LOT of broccoli) as a side dish to some simple ham steaks. I perused a few of my favorite foodie websites and noticed a lot of broccoli casseroles that were pretty much the same. I decided to take some of the most interesting aspects of each and see what happened with a can of baked beans in the pantry as a back up plan ;-)

Rachael's Broccoli & Rice Casserole

Serves 6

1 lb fresh broccoli

1 cup cooked rice (I used an Uncle Ben's microwave Brown and Wild rice packet)

1 small can of sliced mushrooms, drained

1 small onion, diced

1 cup of milk

1 can cream of chicken soup (or cream of mushroom, whatever you have on hand)

4 oz shredded cheese (I used cheddar)

1 cup dried bread crumbs (or a mixture of bread crumbs and crumbled Ritz crackers)

2 Tbsp butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 and bring a pot of water up to a boil.
2. Once water is boiling, cook cut up broccoli for about 5 minutes, remove and drain.
3. In a small skillet fry the bacon slices, onion and mushrooms together, remove and put on a paper towel to drain.
4. In large bowl mix together milk, soup, and shredded cheese until combined.
5. Add in the broccoli, rice, bacon, onion and mushrooms and stir to coat.
6. Put the mixture into a casserole dish.
7. In a small bowl mix the melted butter and bread crumbs together and pour onto casserole.
8. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes.

Not so bad...a bit crummy...will still take some more attempts to get the seasoning worked out, but it was a nice break from my standard roasted broccoli...a bit heartier to say the very least.

Potatoes au Gratin

Time for a side-dish!

I absolutely love potatoes au gratin (and yes, I believe they are different/better than scalloped potatoes --for starters, so much less accurate chopping involved!) and ever since seeing this recipe on-line I have been dying to try it. Tonight was the night as I was already craving ham and what goes better with ham than cheesy potatoes, seriously.

Potatoes au Gratin
Adapted from The Pioneer Woman
(Serves 8)

Ingredients
4 whole Russet Potatoes, Scrubbed Clean
2 Tablespoons Butter, Softened
1-½ cup Half & Half
½ cups Skim Milk
2 Tablespoons Flour
4 cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
1 teaspoon Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste
1 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese, Freshly Grated

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


2. Smear softened butter all over the bottom of a baking dish.


3. Slice potatoes, then cut slices into fourths.


4. In a separate bowl, whisk together cream, milk, flour, minced garlic, salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.


5. Place 1/3 of the potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish. Pour 1/3 of the cream mixture over the potatoes.


6. Repeat this two more times, ending with the cream mixture. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.


7. Remove foil and bake for 20 minutes, or until potatoes are golden brown and really bubbling.


8. Add grated cheese to the top of the potatoes and bake for 3 to 5 more minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly.


9. Allow to stand for a few minutes before serving.